How We Are Creating Wealth From Waste ─Titi Mogaji, Earthcare Nigeria Spokesperson
Titi Mogaji is a public relations specialist and a journalist with over 12 years experience in broadcasting. She is the public relations officer of Earthcare Nigeria. She speaks on the reason she works for an agro/environment company, how Earthcare is converting waste into wealth, how to keep Nigerian cities clean, among other issues.
AS a journalist, what inspired your interest in working for an agro/environmental company?
As a journalist and a public relations specialist, I have always been interested in new things. I visited Earthcare and I was awed by the things I saw there. It was amazing that such a place existed and was truly organic. I wanted to be part of this project. Fortunately, they wanted me to help with creating awareness about it. It was a great match. I have learned so much about the environment since I started working there.
Earthcare is a waste-to-wealth company. They work in collaboration with the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to take waste from Lagos State and turn it into compost fertilisers for plants and protein feed for animals.
We also have a project called the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) where we use the flies’ larvae (maggots) to bio-convert some of our organic waste. These larvae are ferocious eaters. They break down waste quicker than any other microbial process. It also allows us to harvest the maggots because, at this stage when the maggots are grown, it is about 40 – 43 per cent pure protein. The protein is what we need for animal feeds. It is better than the usual ones used, which are plant-based protein from soy bean and so on. With the maggots, we can bio-convert the waste to protein for animal feeds and also produce the residual frass. It is also rich in nutrients for farmers to grow their crops and at the same time rejuvenate the soil. It is a very diverse company.
What kind of waste does Earthcare source for as its raw materials and where does it find them from?
We source our raw materials from different organic source. For instance, Mile 12 market, Ketu market, and the abattoir. Also, we source organic waste from industrial companies like Nigerian breweries, Nestle food, and so on.
Sourcing massive materials from waste sites and landfills requires collaboration with environmentalists and government bodies. Do you have such collaborations, and how do they work?
Yes. We have such collaboration with Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). They have rights to the wastes and by collaborating with us, we are able to reduce the total waste that goes to the landfills, thereby reducing the CO2 footprints for global warming and at the same time recycling those wastes into sustainable products like compost for farmers to use on their crops and for soil amendment. We are also working on other ways to recycle those wastes and to produce other things for animal feed.
How do the fertilisers you produce differ from the other ones in the market, and how effective and safe are they?
Our fertilisers differ from the ones in the market in many ways. First of all, our fertiliser is pure organic, there is no chemical processes there. We just use straight composting and bio-conversion methods to process our fertiliser. We also use microbes, non genetic modifying microbial, and enzymes that will help produce diseased pathogens. So, by the time we finish our products, there is no smell to it. It is rich in both NPK (nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium) and micro and macro nutrients. They perform very well for a variety of farm applications. That way, the crop you’re growing is grown naturally. That is how it differs.
Our product does two things. It provides the nutrients for the crops to thrive on and also it provides the microbes. These are the major different things between our Compost Plus and other fertilisers. Also, ours is cheaper than the one you have in the market. The reason why it is cheaper is that government is recycling their waste and they want to be able to sell it back to the agricultural community. We are trying to price it so that the average farmer can afford it to grow the food they need. It is part of food security. So, at 6,500 naira per 50kg, it is cheaper than any other fertiliser you will find out there.
So far, how are the fertilisers faring in the market? And what are the farmers saying about them?
The fertilisers are faring very well. Most farmers that use our fertilisers are those that export their produce to foreign countries, who don’t want any trace of chemicals in their products. Also, we sell the fertilisers mostly in the Northeast, where there is insurgency, because they have banned the use of chemical fertilisers in that region. But we are hopeful we will reach the entire Nigerian farming community.
Do you have plans to expand this waste innovation to other parts of Nigeria? And do you have plans to teach young people how to tap from this idea?
Of course, we have plans to expand it to other states in Nigeria. That is part of our efforts to see how we can reduce CO2 carbon footprint. We also want to use the same opportunity to create employment for the youths.
These days, nobody wants to get their hands dirty, especially the youth, not to mention working in waste sites. What advice do you have for youths in this regard?
Youths interested in farming no longer have to dirty their hands. There is mechanised farming, where you use modernised equipment to farm. They just have to be interested in being farmers. However, being a farmer is not an easy job. You are transforming communities’ ways of living and feeding, because if there is no food, there is no nation. So, we must have farmers. They can also employ other people, but they must take that initiative to impact the society through farming.
Most Nigerian cities and towns are dirty. What do you think can be done to convert the massive wastes in the society into wealth and job opportunities?
Earthcare recognises the truth in that statement because we are a waste-to-wealth company. So, what we need to do to clean up the cities is to implement systems that will address the different kinds of waste we have out there. We have non-degradable and degradable wastes. So, once the technology to recycle those wastes is there, of course, you can recycle them and generate wealth. By recycling them, you generate other sustainable products that can be used in the society.
If you were the Minister of Environment, what would you do to make Nigerian cities and towns clean and attractive?
That is a loaded question. I have never thought of being the Minister of Environment. However, as a citizen, there are lots of things we can do to keep the environment clean. Firstly, we need to start sensitising families, people and businesses on how to segregate the waste from their homes and businesses; that way, it becomes easier and straightforward to evacuate them, and also to apply them where we need to apply them. That is the first step we need to take.
What are the major challenges you face in this line of work, and how do you manage them?
The major challenge we face is awareness. Awareness for organic farming is not like we have it in the Western part of the world. So, we need to create awareness. Also we need to partner with the government to create policies that will encourage organic farming. If there are no policies, there will be challenges to proceed.
One of the major challenges we face is finance. We don’t have enough finance to do the things we want to do or to implement the systems that we need to put in place to process different kinds of waste. Because the funding is not there, we find it difficult to do what we want to do in a large scale.
The way we manage the challenges is through sales of our products. Gradually, we will get to a point where we might have funding to expand and to scale up whatever we are doing.
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day was ‘Only one Earth’, with focus on ‘Living sustainably in harmony with nature’. What is your advice for Nigerians as regard these theme and focus?
Like I stated before, there has to be awareness on the type of waste we dispose in our environment. People need to be sensitised on these matters, including our children. If we manage our waste well, and not send it to the landfill, I think we will positively contribute to the world and our environment in terms of CO2 emissions, which contributes to climate change.
